The subset of lawyers who use their education and experience to become defense attorneys know that in the course of their work, they’ll be called upon to defend those who are actually guilty of the crimes for which they are accused.

Another subset of lawyers will direct their talents toward defending their employers–entities and organizations–that they know will not always be innocent of the crimes, oversights, violations and misdeeds for which they may be accused.

Presumably, members of these subsets made conscious decisions to enter their respective lines of work. No one held a gun to their heads to seek such employment, and no one will literally feed them to wild boars should they choose to redirect their talents toward other branches of law.

Professional communicators enjoy similar choices and are similarly as free to direct their talents in ways they see fit. The similarity ends, however, when the lines of ethics and morality are crossed.

As far as this layman knows, lawyers in First World countries are bound to strict codes of ethics that demand truth and compel obedience to a body of laws. If individual attorneys can be true to these ideals and find success in their respective niches, more power to them. If they cross the line, there are mechanisms in place to try the facts and prescribe penalties, if necessary. There can be serious repercussions and the risk of public humiliation.

To the question of why some PR firms and communication shops are willing to bed down with tyrants who starve their people, laboratories that torture animals, corporations that prosper from endless wars and otherwise give spin to the pantheon of 21st Century horrors, the answer is threefold: because it’s profitable to do so, the Nuremberg Gambit is easily invoked, and the penalties, prescribed ot otherwise, for turning a blind eye are largely absent.

Maybe the line is one of the ‘truthiness’ of the spin given rather than the ‘virtue’ of the client. Still, to be fair, I’d have problems dining with someone who works for the likes of Myanmar, North Korea, Hamas or Arsenal Football Club.

Mike

But I sure would hate for communicators to be lumped in the same categories as lawyers. (With apologies to my son and daughter-in-law, who are attorneys.)

Perhaps we communicators could stand where lawyers stand–where there is a fundamental belief that a client has a right to be able to make his or her case?

Something to think about–a good post, Julie…

Mike Klein
Delft, NL

I think you are really on to something here. One issue I have with the International Conference is that other than as a paying registrant networking around the sessions, there are few opportunities for independents/newer/smaller players to generate good commercial opportunities.

A speed pitching section–distinct from the formal exhibitors–would be a great step. Additionally, an ‘open-space’ workshop allowing participants to present their own sessions around a given topic on the day could also balance a Conference agenda that can seem heavy on ‘established incumbents’ in the industry.

Your thoughts?

Mike Klein
Delft, NL

IABC’s Gold Quill Awards - as an entrant, a judge or a winner - can change lives.

I know, because it’s changed mine.

What he said, too, on the thanks to IABC staff, and to this year’s chair Jeffrey Ory, ABC, APR. See you when the curtains go up on this year’s winners in NYC!

And when all else fails, gently addressing the issue head-on can help. I was once taken out to dinner by colleagues in Indonesia. They recommended that I order the seafood platter. The hostess graciously ordered the same thing, so I had a model to follow with regard to protocol. This was very helpful since they traditionally eat such dishes with their hands…or hand, since the lefthand is considered unclean according to Muslim tradition, and is not supposed to be used to introduce food into the human body (this is observed more or less strictly depending on where you are and whether there is cutlery, among other factors).

Anyway, I felt that I was doing very well until we arrived at the crab. I was in awe as the hostess skilfully opened hers and extracted the flesh with a single hand. After several attempts, I apologized and begged their forgiveness for not being the equal of the crab unless I used my left hand. They were so touched that I had attempted to follow their custom rather than using the knife and fork at my disposal that they kindly overlooked my acknowledged faux pas.

I am trying to use this new-found knowledge to simplify my life! Including unsubscribing myself from all those lists that I receive “just in case something useful comes along”.

In many developing countries, the mobile phone has revolutionized life. A growing number of farmers around the world now receive vital information about prices for their crops by text message. This “intrusive” message allows the farmer to make an informed decision about whether to set off to market, and which market would be the most lucrative. Given the distances to travel and the scarcity of transportation, this saves vast amounts of time and money.

Now, villagers in remote areas are even able to bank by mobile phone. Again, this provides a vital service for basic economic development that would otherwise be inaccessible.

Text messaging in North America has been slow to take off, largely because this continent is so well served by older forms of communications (cheap telephone calls, widespread internet access, etc.) But judging the role of text messaging from this perspective would be foolish and ethnocentric.

Because of the coverage issue, I use text messaging to keep in touch with several colleagues who also travel a lot. Sometimes, it is just to make an appointment to talk or e-mail, but sometimes we carry out entire exchanges this way. For example, one day, I was travelling by train from Paris to Amsterdam. Because the train is electric, there is often interference that interrupts calls. So I sent a text message to a Norwegian colleague, who replied that he was somewhere rural in Africa. Not only was this way of communicating much more practical at that moment than phone, fax, e-mail or post, it was much cheaper than a multinational call between two mobile phones, neither of which was in the territory of its subscription.

Text messaging has another appeal: its simplified, pidgeon version of English is much easier to master and to use across diverse groups of non-native English speakers.

At a casual event, there aren’t any rules about who should be seated first. At a semi-formal or formal dinner, the dinner may be preceded by cocktails. The host — by action or announcement — may indicate that dinner is about to begin. Follow the lead of the host. If the host indicates, “please, be seated,” don’t continue to stand, waiting for the host to sit down. But if the host sits down, you should also sit down.

If you’re attending a semi-formal or formal banquet, you may be seated when the banquet hall doors are opened. As other guest join your table, it is polite to stand and greet them — regardless of gender or age. This is a gesture of respect and interest.

I hope this is helpful or results in healthy discussion.

As always, a pragmatic response.

Here are some alternative counters:

* You’re not overloaded but overextended

* There may be an unwillingness to prioritise (which is an alternative perspective to look at your original posting) and you may wish to have your cake while nibbling around its edges

* You’ve neglected to sign up for Evelyn Wood’s Speed Reading class and now you’re paying the price.

All the best from Civilisation,

Mike Klein
Delft, NL

As always, you offer a new wrinkle to the conversation.

If I accept your premise that information overload is a myth, can you explain why I feel like there is so much I need to read and so little time?

Julie

Very perceptive observation and spot-on observation by your neuroscientist. I would comment further if I had the time but there’s too much happy surfing to do :)……..Linda Norris IABC Washington

For me, it’s the relevance, resonance and interactivity level of information that determines whether it is part of the solution or problem–and not the sheer volume. Giving credence to the myth of information overload invariably has the impact of stifling or giving short shrift to information some would see as important, and puts the profession on the defensive about everything we allow to flow through our channels.

Furthermore, by acknowledging “information overload” as a problem, we make ourselves responsible for dealing with it. That’s not a great position to be in. Instead accepting that information is insufficiently channeled and targeted offers much more promise.

“you happen to be the host of the dinner, should you be the first to sit down or the last?”

…in the Philippine cutlture how should it be? Why?

I have to say that in the UK, “15 items or less” (actually, it’s 10 here…) is a bugbear of mine.

And “there’s less people here than yesterday” makes me cringe!!

Dave